WIMBLEDON – Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan became only the second known player in the Open Era to record a ‘golden set’ (winning all 24 points in a set) in the first set of her 6-0, 6-4 third round win over Sara Errani of Italy.
“I had no idea,†said Svedova. “I was just playing every point and every game. Like I didn’t feel like it was every game was 40‑Love, only in the second set.
“Like I remember like first or second ball of the second set she won. All the people start to like clap and scream. I was like, What’s going on? I even smiled. I was, like, Okay, they want to see a good match. I was like, Okay.
“And then in the gym after the match, when I was cooling down, my coach came, and he’s like, Did you know like someone told me like the stats about you and not losing a point. I was like, Really? Like not making unforced errors or not losing points? Not losing a point. So it was incredible.â€
The only previous player to record a golden set was American Bill Scanlon, who won all 24 points in the second set of his 6-2, 6-0 first round win over Marcos Hocevar of Brazil at Delray Beach in 1983.
“Like I still cannot believe,†added Shvedova, “and I was like probably maybe they made the mistake or something until like I went to have a bit of food before the mixed. My manager came, and she’s said like, They checked the stats. They said it’s really true. You won 24 points in a row.â€
Shvedova held the previous women’s record for the most consecutive points won, winning the first 23 points of her match against American Amy Frazier in the second round at Memphis in 2006, but went on to lose the match 1-6, 6-0, 6-0.
Shvedova will play Serena Williams on Monday for a place in the quarterfinals.